A vampire is essentially an energy feeder or blood drinker that may display various levels of psychic ability. While the causality, interpretation, and sometimes even the “proper” spelling of vampirism are debated, vampires are generally individuals who cannot adequately sustain their own physical, mental, or spiritual well-being without the taking of blood or vital life force energy from other sources; often human. Without feeding the vampire will become lethargic, sickly, depressed, and often go through physical suffering or discomfort. Vampires often display signs of empathy, sense emotions, perceive auras, and are generally psychically aware of the world around them. To a degree, the specifics of vampirism manifest differently on an individual basis and these nuances sometimes insulate the confusion in defining the vampiric range of ability and experience. The alternate spelling of “Vampyre” is sometimes used depending on the path from which one approaches vampirism. There are numerous vampiric Paths, Houses, Orders, Associations, and Groups within the vampire community that exist both online and offline; often each having their own unique philosophies, teachings, ethical tenets, and protocols.

Sanguinarian (Sang) Vampires feed by the drinking of blood - either human or animal. Sanguinarian vampires can vary in their experience of blood hunger and in how often or in what quantities they need to feed, but the unique craving for blood and the physical symptoms associated with neglecting to drink blood are unifying features of sanguinarian vampirism. The consumption of blood from human sources is facilitated through a consensual agreement by verbal or written contract between vampire and donor. Not all members of the vampire community actually acknowledge the difference between psychic and sanguinarian vampirism, and there is a popular but not universally-held theory within the vampire community that the life force energy or "prana" contained within the blood is the source from which they feed, rather than any physical component of the blood itself. This theory is supported by the notably small amount of blood that vampires consume to alleviate their hunger; usually one to two tablespoons, but challenged by the fact that vampires who consider themselves primarily blood drinkers often do not display as many or any of the psychic tendencies that psychic vampires do, and more often report more physical symptoms, such as sense acuity and physical strength, than do the psychic vampires.

Psychic (Psi) Vampires are understood to feed psychically on life force energy. Psi (or psy) feeding is usually performed on a willing individual or from the ambient energies of a large group or crowd. This term is often mistakenly confused with the pop psychology use of "psychological vampire", used as a metaphor to describe specific socially manipulative behaviors. Psi vampire, refers to a vampire who feeds by some manner of energy transfer; this term may also be shortened to psivamp. Psy vampire, and "psychic vampire" are sometimes considered synonyms for psi vampire, but are also sometimes employed as separate terms with distinctive meanings. For example, "psi" is often employed as a synonym for ESP phenomena in parapsychology, and "psy" is short for either "psychic" or "psychological". Those who make distinctions between these terms may use these meanings as the basis for their reasoning.

Hybrid or Psi/Sang Vampires claim to have no primary feeding method, being able to feed from either source at any time. Others report changing their primary feeding source from energy to blood, or vice versa, at various points in their lives. Some, but not all, vampires who can feed or have fed via both methods choose to describe themselves as Psi/Sang or Hybrid vampires. Still other community members go further to define sub-classes of vampirism based on the detailed methods and sources of psychic feeding. These classes are most often distinguished from one another based on the type of energy gained. Those who feed from natural or elemental energy, and those who feed from humans either during sexual contact, during magickal rituals, or during times of high emotional output may be described as specific types of vampires. Further subcategories of psi feeding energy exist, including terminology to describe those who feed from direct contact with the human aura, those who feed from the ambient energy of crowds and public places, those who can only absorb certain kinds of emotions, etc.

Definition Of Real Vampirism - Vampirism & Energy Work Research StudyCopyright 2005-2013; Atlanta Vampire Alliance [AVA] & Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC. All Rights Reserved.This article may be redistributed, translated, or adopted by other organizations provided there are no content modifications and full citation is included.